Ron Brownsberger, newly appointed Schoolmaster of the
schoolhouse built in East York, visited other schoolhouse sites as he prepared
his own program.Motivated by his
experience, he invited people to visit his site on April 28, 1986 to see his
school and exchange programs.10
people attended.

In 1987, The Old Britannia Schoolhouse in Peel hosted a
gathering of “Schoolmasters, Schoolmistresses, Museum Personnel and Others
Interested in Early Education Programs”. In
1988, the meeting was hosted by Oxford County and at the business meeting it was
decided that the organization should assume
SLATE (So Let’s Talk Education) as its
official name.

SLATE has continued to meet once a year except 1997.Attendance at the conferences has ranged from 25 to 75 persons.The SLATE program presented each year includes the following:

•Information about the history of the host site;

•Usually a more academic or scholarly presentation
such as an aspect of early schooling, school architecture;

•Time for informal/organized interaction and sharing
of concerns;

•A Swap Table where one site’s surplus books or
other items can be taken for use at
another site.

Minutes of the SLATE Conferences held since its first informal
gathering in 1986 have been recorded.